An Emerald Alliance
by SamanthaKathy
Summary: Sequel to A Past of Emerald Shadows. Harry is now a Malfoy, but that doesn't mean his problems are over. Voldemort, Dumbledore, and everything that happened in the past still threaten his happiness. Throw in some house-elves, goblins and centaurs, and see
1. Chapter 1

1

Disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

1. Christmas Time Woes

Harry woke up in the dead of the night. For a moment, he still thought he was in one of Voldemort's torture chambers. But then, the sound of a house-elf arriving drew him completely into the land of the awake. Harry whispered a soft _Lumos_, and his room was suddenly bathed in light. Next to his bed was a house-elf, or better said, a very annoyed house-elf.

"Mystia…" Harry began.

"Master Harry is having another nightmare," the house-elf, named Mystia, interrupted. "Master Harry should be telling Master Malfoy!"

Harry sighed. He knew the house-elf was right. He hadn't had a good night of sleep since he was re-aged, roughly two months ago.

"I will, after Christmas. That's today, and I don't want to ruin it," Harry conceded to Mystia.

"Master Harry is promising to tell Master Malfoy tomorrows?" Mystia asked, although it sounded more like a statement.

"Yes, after Ron and Hermione are gone, I'll tell Lucius," Harry promised.

A few hours later, Harry decided it was now late enough to get up. He hadn't been able to get back to sleep after Mystia had left, so once again he cast a glamour charm to hide his rather dismal appearance. It was just in time too, as an excited Draco came bouncing into his room.

"Good, you're awake," Draco said. "That means we can start with the presents."

Laughing, Harry followed Draco downstairs. In the smallest, cozy parlor, the one Harry had dubbed the family parlor, Lucius and Narcissa were already waiting. Like the rest of the Manor, the parlor was decorated with Christmas ornaments. Underneath the giant Christmas tree were big piles of presents, wrapped in all the colors of the rainbow.

Harry was warmly greeted by the elder Malfoys as he entered. Sitting down, Harry felt truly content, a feeling he didn't often have. Even if nothing in his life would ever work out, he'd still have this memory, the memory of truly belonging to a family. Next to Harry, Draco was almost bouncing on his seat. Harry still marveled about the change that came over Draco when he was around family and friends. Normally, he was so composed and cold, but around family and friends, he was, well, normal. Not to mention that he could be bloody protective.

Come on, Dad," Draco said.

Lucius laughed, and with a quick spell, there were four piles of presents, one before each person. The previous evening, Draco had explained that they had a family tradition to go from oldest to youngest person when unwrapping presents. Harry had remarked that it was usually the other way around, and an embarrassed Draco had admitted that it was instigated, at first, to teach him patience. So Lucius started unpacking his presents first. The more presents Lucius unwrapped, the more nervous Harry got. His present to Lucius was somewhere at the bottom of the pile, and Harry wondered if it would be good enough. Narcissa had bought a book for Lucius, which was probably very rare and valuable, as Harry couldn't imagine that Lucius would be so obviously pleased with any other book. Draco had given his father a watch, and Harry assumed it had some special charms cast on it. And finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Lucius had Harry's present in his hand. Slowly, meticulously, he unpacked it. The big, leather-bound book that came out didn't have a title on the cover, and Lucius opened it. Slowly, he leafed through the book, face unreadable. Harry's nervous excitement deflated, and instead, Harry felt just nauseous. Lucius probably hated it, or he already owned it. Harry felt stupid, he should have known better. The Malfoys had an enormous library, of course Lucius already owned all the books he liked, barring a few rare volumes.

"I can return it," Harry said miserably.

Lucius blinked, and looked up at Harry.

"Why?" he said. "I'm sure it will be interesting to see what it is about after it's translated. I'm just trying to figure out what the language is, I don't recognize the alphabet."

"Translate?" Harry asked confused. "what do you mean? it's in English. It's a book about the founding of Hogwarts, written by Salazar Slytherin."

"Harry, when I look at this, all I see are weird markings. Are you saying you can read it?" Lucius asked.

Harry nodded.

"Oh my," Narcissa said. "Written Parseltongue."

Lucius stroked the book, that now lay closed on his lap.

"Thank you, Harry," Lucius said. "This is very special, and I look forward to translating this together with you."

Harry felt elated. Lucius liked his present, and he would get to spend some time with the man who was now, in effect, his father.

Lucius stack didn't contain many unopened presents anymore, so it wasn't long before Narcissa started opening her presents. This time, Harry's gift was near the top, and Harry didn't get the time to grow nervous about it. Harry had chosen a beautiful cashmere scarf for Narcissa which had a pattern of tiny flowers woven into it. If you looked closely enough, you could see it were all kinds of Narcissi. After she put it carefully aside, Narcissa gave Harry a hug. He smiled, embarrassed by her reaction, but very pleased at the same time. Harry was glad when Narcissa continued unwrapping her presents. Lucius and Draco also received a hug for their presents. When Narcissa was done with her presents, Draco's turn had come. Instead of the slow, careful manner of unpacking his parents had used, Draco ripped into his presents, quickly building up a pile of discarded wrapping paper. When all of his presents were opened, Draco frowned and started digging through the pile of wrapping paper, scattering it everywhere around him.

"Draco, _what_ are you doing?" Lucius asked, while Narcissa seemed to be holding in her laughter.

Harry, in the meantime, felt frozen into place, like he was watching a horrible accident, unable to look away. He knew what was wrong, and he knew it was his fault.

"I'm looking for Harry's gift," Draco said, looking up from his search. "I haven't unpacked whatever I got from Harry, and I can't find it."

Lucius looked over at Harry, who was feeling decidedly ill.

"There's no present from me," Harry said softly.

He sounded strangely detached, even to himself. But the worst part of the confession was the hurt look in Draco's eyes. Draco looked down very quickly, but Harry had still seen it. Harry looked back at Lucius, who wasn't angry, as Harry had expected. Instead, he looked worried.

"If you needed to go to Diagon Alley to shop, or if you needed money, you could have asked," Lucius said. "You know that, right Harry?"

Harry swallowed heavily.

"Yes, I know," Harry answered. "It's not that, it's just, I have a present for Draco, it's just…"

Harry trailed of and looked down. He didn't know how to explain his fears, that the gift had to be perfect, and it wasn't. That Draco would probably hate it, and that it was probably better not to give it, but that he had decided it yesterday and hadn't had the time to get something else.

"What is it, Harry?" Lucius asked softly.

Harry looked up from the ground, and was startled to find Lucius kneeling in front of him, his face at the same height as his own. Harry looked Lucius in the eye, and something of his desperation must have shown in his own eyes, because Lucius drew him into a hug. Hot tears streamed down Harry's cheeks as he sobbed out the fears he couldn't voice. When he'd calmed down, Lucius drew back, but cupped Harry's cheek in his hand.

"No matter what you think, say, do, or give, you will always be a part of this family," Lucius said.

Harry tried to smile at that, but all he did was cry some more. After a few more minutes, Lucius sat back down next to Narcissa, and Harry asked Mystia to bring his present for Draco. He handed it over to Draco, who took it gingerly, and looked back at the ground. He expected to hear some kind of platitude, at best, so the heartfelt thanks he heard made him look up. Draco was looking at him, smiling, and the present lay unopened on his lap.

"You haven't opened it," Harry said, confused.

"It doesn't matter what it is, I got it from you, so it's special," Draco answered, confusing Harry even more.

Confused or not, Harry felt nervous as Draco started to unwrap his gift. In contrast to the other presents, Draco unwrapped this one slowly. When the wrapping paper fell away, Draco gasped in surprise. Gently, he lifted a delicate snow globe up to look at it more closely. Instead of the normal things one finds inside a snow globe, this one held two dragons wrapped around each other, not fighting, but obviously playing. Upon shaking the globe, silver sparkles fell around the creatures, one red, one green. Draco caressed the inscription on the base of the globe; _forever brothers_.

"Thank you," Draco said, still staring transfixed at his present, "it's beautiful."

And for the first time in years, Harry felt truly happy.

Eventually, the moment was broken by Narcissa, who gently urged Harry to start unwrapping his own presents. There was no Weasley present, nor one from Hermione, because Harry had arranged for Ron and Hermione to come by tomorrow and they would be swapping presents then. But he did get some sweets from several other Gryffindor year-mates. It was nice to know they still liked him. What surprised them was the fact that he got a lot of sweets and gift certificates from the Slytherins, but shrugged it of as having to do with his new status as a Malfoy. Hagrid had send his usual gift of rock cakes and some candy, which was thankfully store-bought. Then, Harry picked up the present from the elder Malfoys. He unwrapped the present, and uncovered a framed wizarding photograph of himself, riding on a bay horse during one of his riding lesson he had been getting from Lucius every day since he arrived at Malfoy Manor for Christmas. There was also a rolled-up parchment included, which he opened. Reading it, Harry's eyes grew wide.

"Is this real?" he asked Lucius.

"Yes Harry, you are now the proud owner of Aramis," Lucius said.

Aramis was the horse he'd been learning how to rid on, and Harry adored him. He hugged both Narcissa and Lucius, grinning wide. This was perhaps the best present he'd ever gotten, right next to getting Hedwig from Hagrid.

Up next was the last present, from Draco. Opening it up, he saw an old, leather-bound book with the Potter crest on it. Flipping it open, he was surprised to see the book was empty. But he was starting to learn not to take anything at face value in the wizarding world, so he turned to Draco.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's your family's lineage book. It will show you information about all your magical relatives on the Potter side. You can trace the Potter family tree up to the first magical ancestor. Only a Potter can see its contents, and for that you need to put a drop of blood on the first page. It's self-updating, with the last relatives up front, which would be you. Then your father, and so on. On the very first page, you'll see a family tree," Draco babbled, obviously nervous.

Harry hugged the book to his chest.

"Thank you, Draco, it's wonderful," was all he managed to say.

HPHPHPHPHPHP

After another sleepless night, Harry was waiting by the fireplace in the antechamber of the Manor's entrance hall for Ron and Hermione to arrive. It didn't take long before the fire flared green and Ron came through, with Hermione right behind him.

"Happy Christmas, mate," Ron said, as soon as he'd brushed the soot off of his clothes.

Hermione, who'd used a spell, as she'd turned seventeen last September, added her well wishes to Ron's.

"Well, why don't you come on through to the parlor, everybody's there," Harry said.

He was still a bit nervous about mixing his friends with the Malfoys, even though they'd been all right with Draco during the few weeks that were left until Christmas. Still, he wasn't sure how they'd respond now that they were actually seeing him living with the Malfoys.

"Ah, you're here," Draco exclaimed, once they entered the parlor, "that means we can finally exchange the last few presents."

Harry smiled, while Narcissa reprimanded her son and invited Ron and Hermione to sit. Presents were quickly swapped, and Harry's nerves calmed down upon seeing that Ron and Hermione had bought the elder Malfoys a present too. The normal Weasley sweater was included in his package from the Weasleys. Harry stroked the midnight-blue fabric.

"I wasn't sure she was going to send me one," he said softly to Ron.

"Of course she would," Ron said. "She still sends one to Percy, and what he's done is much worse than whatever you could come up with."

Harry smiled, but silently didn't agree with Ron. After all, Percy was one of Mrs. Weasley's own children, and he was not. He didn't have much time to brood on it, however, as Lucius decided that it was time they talked.

"We need to discuss what we are going to do now," Lucius said.

Hermione and Ron nodded, and it seemed like they'd expected it. Harry, on the other hand, had no idea what Lucius was talking about, and he said as much.

"You might be away from those monsters, but that doesn't mean that all of your problems have magically disappeared," Lucius said.

Harry felt guilty, thinking about the nightmares. But he was going to tell, after Ron and Hermione were gone, so it wasn't like it was a big deal.

"Besides that, I have the feeling that there's a lot you haven't told us yet, not to mention that we still have the Dark Lord to deal with," Lucius continued. "And, I don't trust Dumbledore near you, no matter that he can't turn this adoption back. He's done nothing to prepare you for what's ahead, and he has, in fact, only made things worse."

"I think the first priority has to be to make sure Harry is safe, so we can help him with all of his problems," Hermione said.

Lucius nodded.

"Yes, that's why I have decided that the best thing to do is to extract both him and Draco from Hogwarts, out of reach from everyone who'd want to harm him, good intentions or not," Lucius said.

"No," Harry exclaimed. "You can't do that."

"Why not, it seems like a good plan to me," Draco said. "That way, Dad can train you here, teach you what you need to know to survive."

"Yes, but that would leave Ron and Hermione alone at Hogwarts," Harry said.

"Mate, I don't want to say we won't miss you, because we will, but we can survive without you, you know," Ron said.

"I'm not so sure about that," Harry said. "Dumbledore, he, he knew, and he still left me there. Now he's lost control. What will he do if I'm totally beyond his control? What if he used you to pressure me into something?"

"Harry's right," Hermione said. "We don't know why Dumbledore did what he did, and for all we know he's gone insane with his old age. I might be seventeen, and able to withdraw from Hogwarts, but Ron won't be seventeen for three more months. And there's no way his mother would allow him to drop out."

"She'd skin me alive for just mentioning it," Ron said, shuddering slightly.

"You're right, Harry," Lucius said. "I hadn't thought about that yet. But at the same time, I don't want you to risk yourself by going back there."

"Isn't there some way he can get some more protection inside Hogwarts?" Hermione said.

"Well, private chambers would be best, but unless you're an heir to one of the founders, you can't have one," Lucius said. "It's too bad you're not a Slytherin, you would be better protected under Severus's care."

Harry snorted. It would be more a case of a different tormentor than a reprieve if he were to be a Slytherin under Snape's rule.

"It's true, you know. He might not like you very much, but he would do anything to protect a student under his care," Draco said. "Even if it meant going up against Dumbledore."

"Yes, but since that's also out of the question, as even a re-sorting wouldn't help us in this case, we need to think about other options," Narcissa said.

"Maybe a combination of protection spells and caution would be enough," Lucius pondered out loud.

While the rest of the room continued to debate how to keep him safe, Harry was still stuck on the suggestion of him going to Slytherin. Maybe the Hat had been right, maybe he would've done better there. Besides, if he would go to Slytherin, he'd be close to Draco. The boy still made him feel safe, just like he'd done when Harry'd been five. He'd brave Snape and the rest of the Slytherins any day, if it meant being close to Draco.

But Harry never got the chance to say anything about being re-sorted into Slytherin, as a sharp stab of pain in his forehead caused him to cry out. His hand shot to his scar, which continued to hurt and throb. In the distance, he could hear concerned voices, but he wasn't in the Malfoy's parlor anymore. He was once again in Voldemort's torture chamber. The ice-cold laughter of Voldemort reached his ears moments before the Cruciatus Curse hit him. He fell to the floor, convulsing. He could hear someone scream, and distantly realized that it was himself he was hearing. Just before he sagged away into blessed unconsciousness, he could feel his glamour fall.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros

Disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

A/N: I'm currently having back problems, so that means that I can't sit at a computer for very long. This means that updates to my stories will be slower than usual, because I can't write for very long periods of time. It is getting better, but slowly.

2. Decisions Are Made

When Harry woke up, he knew he was in trouble. Not only was he lying stretched out on the couch, he could hear Lucius softly talking with a strange man, and Lucius was calling him Healer Carwin. As far as Harry was concerned, Healers were never good news, and it was even worse that the Malfoys had felt that the situation called for one.

"Harry, mate, I know you're awake," Ron said softly.

Harry opened his eyes a bit, seeing that Lucius, Narcissa and who he assumed to be Healer Carwin were on the other side of the parlor. Hermione, Draco and Ron were sitting on the floor next to the sofa he was lying on. He frowned a bit towards Ron, hoping he would understand the question without it having to be said, as Harry didn't want to alert the adults that he was awake yet.

"I've spend the last five years in the same dorm, you get to know a person," Ron answered the unspoken question softly.

It was just in time too, as Narcissa discovered that Harry was awake. Healer Carwin introduced himself, gave a lecture on taking better care of himself, then left. Lucius looked down on Harry, who was still feeling a bit weak.

"Harry, I'm sorry, but you are not going back to Hogwarts," Lucius said. "You're obviously in a lot more trouble than any of us realized, and I want to make sure you're all better before I send you into a potentially dangerous situation."

"But I was going to tell, I swear," Harry said, sitting up. "After Ron and Hermione had left I was going to tell you, just ask Mystia, she made me promise. You can't keep me here, what if…"

"Harry," Narcissa interrupted him, "your friends will be fine. We had a talk before the Healer got here, and neither of us thinks Dumbledore meant to harm you. We're not pleased with his methods, and we're still not sure why he was so obsessed about putting you with the Dursleys, but neither do we think he's a real danger."

And with that, Harry knew, he'd lost the argument. Still, he had a lot of questions. He wasn't given the time to ask them though, as Narcissa informed him he was to go straight to his room and take a sleeping potion, as his body was in desperate need of sleep.

"We will talk once you're more rested," Lucius promised as he tucked Harry in, after leading him upstairs and giving him the sleeping potion. "Sleep well."

HPHPHPHPHP

Harry awoke slowly. He couldn't remember a time that he had done that. He felt rested, which was new too. When he opened his eyes, he saw Lucius sitting in a chair next to his bed reading a book. For a moment he contemplated whether or not he would reveal he was awake. It proved to be unnecessary though, for Lucius put away his book and focused his attention on Harry.

"How are you feeling?" Lucius asked.

"I feel great," Harry said.

"Good, that means we can talk now," Lucius answered.

Harry looked at his hands. He wasn't sure if he wanted to talk, even though he was desperate to know what would happen with him after the Christmas holidays.

"I've already informed Dumbledore that you will not return after the holidays, because of illness and the need for recovery. I've also informed him that I will keep Draco here, so that you may have at least some company."

Harry smiled a little. At least he wouldn't be alone. He found himself much reassured by that.

"So what's going to happen after the holidays?" Harry asked.

"You will get lessons from me and Narcissa, as will Draco. As for the problems you have, you'll be taking a dreamless sleep potion every three nights to ensure that you get enough sleep. And you and I are going to be working on your specific problems," Lucius said.

Harry frowned. He didn't like the sound of that.

"What do you mean, my specific problems?" he asked.

Lucius looked sternly at him, making Harry look away. His hands were fidgeting with the sheets that covered him. Lucius put his hand on top of Harry's.

"It's not a shame to have problems, Harry," Lucius said. "And I am here to help you with them."

"You don't even know what my problems are," Harry said softly. "And I doubt you want to know them."

"Harry, I do want to know them, for only if I know them can I help you with them," Lucius answered.

Harry looked at Lucius, searching, hoping. Would he truly help? Or would he flee, abandon Harry as so many had abandoned him before? Could he afford not to tell Lucius? Harry knew the answer deep down. Taking a deep breath, he told his greatest secret.

"I know the prophecy," he whispered.

Lucius stayed silent, and Harry plunged forward.

"It says I am to kill Voldemort or be killed by him. That I have some sort of power he doesn't know about, but even Dumbledore doesn't know what it is," Harry said in a rush, then fell silent.

Lucius grabbed one of Harry's hands, and squeezed it a bit. Harry looked back up at him.

"We will find that power, and I will train you. You will survive this, Harry, I'll make certain of it," Lucius promised.

Then Lucius pulled Harry into a hug, and Harry relaxed against him, abandoning the fear that had held him since he'd heard the prophecy. He would get through this; he would trust in Lucius.

HPHPHPHPHPHP

It was the last day of the Christmas holidays, and Harry was sitting in a window seat on the second floor of the Manor. The sun was setting, and it was softly snowing. The grounds of the Manor were already covered in snow, and the scene was very peaceful. Harry, however, was very restless and troubled. His thoughts kept running in circles, and they weren't happy thoughts.

"You all right?" Draco asked.

Harry looked up, surprised to see the other boy. He hadn't heard him approaching.

"Yeah," Harry said, without much conviction.

Draco sat down next to Harry, and looked sternly at him.

"You still worried about not going to Hogwarts?" Draco asked.

Draco was looking at him worriedly, and Harry smiled slightly. It felt good to know that someone was concerned about him.

"No, I'm okay with that. It's not like I want to go back there. I'll miss Ron and Hermione, but your father promised we could go to Hogsmeade every weekend they have a Hogsmeade weekend. So I'll get to see them at least for a while," Harry said.

"So what's the matter then, if it's not that?" Draco asked.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. He didn't want to tell, he knew what would happen if he did.

"You can tell me," Draco said softly, "I can help you, but only if you tell me."

"No you can't," Harry shouted, jumping up from his seat, "you say you do, but if I tell you, you'll leave."

Draco was looking at him with wide eyes, and his mouth hanging open. Harry sank down on the ground and hugged his knees to his chest.

"They all do," he said softly.

Draco went down to the floor too, and pulled Harry into an embrace.

"Who left?" Draco said.

"Ron and Hermione did. I told them, and they said they would help, and stick with me, and now they've left me alone. They didn't even put up a fight. And your father said he would help, he promised I wouldn't be alone, and he hasn't even talked to me about it since I told him," Harry said, sobbing. "They all leave me when I tell them, please don't make me tell you."

Draco sank down next to Harry on the floor and held him while Harry sobbed his heart out, all the while reciting that Harry didn't have to tell him, and that he would always be there for him. Harry didn't completely believe him, but, oh, how he wanted to. When he'd finally calmed down a bit, Draco pulled back, bit still kept a hold of Harry.

"Now, you said a lot just there," Draco said. "But before we get into that, let me make one thing very clear, Harry. Ron and Hermione did not leave you without a fight."

"What do you mean, they didn't leave me without a fight? They didn't even seem upset about leaving," Harry said.

"No, they didn't, because father told them it would be hard enough on you without the both of them seeming anything less than completely in favor of the plan to leave you here," Draco said.

Harry looked at him in wonder. His friends hadn't abandoned him? They hadn't been happy to leave him? It was hard to wrap his mind around that, so he chose to focus on something else.

"Yeah, okay, maybe, but you father did abandon me. He said he would help, and I never heard from him again. Heck, I don't even see him except for meals," Harry said.

Draco frowned. Harry suddenly realized he was talking about Draco's father, so Draco would probably take sides with his dad, and Harry might lose him because he said bad things about Draco's father.

"I'll find out what's going on with Dad," Draco said.

Harry was confused, what did Draco mean? He asked, and Draco looked at him like he was a total idiot. Which he probably was.

"You said Dad promised you something, and I am going to find out why he isn't keeping that promise, and then I'm going to hold him to it," Draco said. "Now, why don't you go and rest a bit, while I talk to Dad."

Harry nodded, a little dazed, then watched Draco walk away. He seemed determined to stand up for Harry, and Harry smiled. Then, suddenly, he had a horrific thought. What if Lucius told Draco? Then he'd lose Draco, and he didn't want that. He'd have to stop Lucius from telling Draco, that was all there was to it.

Not even a minute later, Harry was walking right behind Draco towards Lucius's office in his in Invisibility Cloak, courtesy of Mystia. When Draco went into the office, Harry was right behind him, managing to slip in before the door was closed. He went to stand in a corner, so that nobody would bump into him. He would stay invisible, unless and until Lucius seemed to be about to tell Draco about the prophecy. Then, he'd reveal himself and hopefully that would be enough to silence Lucius.

"Draco, something the matter?" Lucius asked.

"Yes," Draco said, "I wanted to know why you broke your promise to Harry."

Harry blinked. That was awfully direct for Draco, hell, for any Slytherin. Draco must really be mad. In the mean while, Lucius had put down his paperwork, and focused completely on his son.

"What do you mean? I haven't broken any promises that I know of," Lucius said.

Harry choked back a sob. It hurt, that Lucius wouldn't even acknowledge he'd made a promise in the first place.

"Oh, you don't?" Draco said sarcastically. "Well, maybe you'd like to explain to me, then, why Harry seems to think you've abandoned him after he told you something. Something he isn't even willing to tell me, because he seems to think everyone leaves him when they know, like Ron and Hermione supposedly did by going back to Hogwarts. He said that he'd told you and that you promised to help, and that since then you haven't even looked at him. That promise. Ring any bells?"

"I have been helping him," Lucius said.

Harry sank down on his knees. How could he say that? Draco snorted, obviously not believing his father either.

"I have, I've been doing research, and I might even be on to something," Lucius said. "Why would he think… Oh, Merlin, how could I have made such a mistake. I forgot."

"You forgot your promise?" Draco practically screamed.

"No, I forgot he's a Gryffindor," Lucius said. "If I'd made you a promise about helping you, you'd wait and see, even if it took a while. Harry, he's a Gryffindor, he's more focused on action. I should have involved him, or at least told him what I was doing. Then he wouldn't think I abandoned him," Lucius said, sounding miserable.

"Oh, Merlin, Dad. You're right. Any Slytherin would just sit back and wait for you to come back to them, but not a Gryffindor, and certainly not Harry. He's not good at trusting people. And we made the same mistake by telling Ron and Hermione to play a charade about leaving Harry behind. It made him think they abandoned him. We made it harder for him, not better," Draco said, having sunk down into a chair.

Harry had listened with disbelief. Lucius hadn't abandoned him? He was doing something? He slipped the invisibility cloak off, startling both Lucius and Draco.

"Did you mean it?" Harry asked, turning pleading eyes on Lucius, who was out of his seat within seconds, engulfing Harry in a hug.

"Yes, I meant it Harry, I meant it," Lucius said.

Harry started sobbing, clinging to Lucius, who rocked him gently until he had himself under control again.

"You've been researching something?" Harry asked.

"Yes, you said something about a power, and I was thinking that it might have something to do with when you were five," Lucius said. "When you appeared here, you did something akin to Apparating, but we know you didn't, because that's not possible under Hogwarts wards. Not to mention that you couldn't be found, neither by a phoenix or by Dark spells. That can't be attributed to the Manor wards. You did something, Harry, and I think it's connected to that power. I've been trying to find out what it was you did, but I haven't had any luck so far."

"You really have been helping," Harry said, completely amazed.

"Yes, and starting tomorrow, both you and Draco, if you'll let him, can help me search, all right?" Lucius said.

Harry nodded, and looked at Draco, who wore a big smile.

"Sure, I'll help. I'll always help," he said, looking straight at Harry.

Harry flushed, and hid his face in Lucius chest, who just chuckled and continued to hold him. Harry, having been exhausted from all the crying, fell asleep like that. He was out of it when he was brought to bed by Lucius, only waking briefly when Lucius tucked him in after transfiguring his clothes into pajamas.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

"Master Harry, master Harry, yous must be awaking now."

Harry turned towards the familiar voice, feeling groggy.

"Master Harry," the voice said insistently.

Harry recognized it now as Mystia's voice, and turned on the lights. Blinking for a moment, he sat up. Mystia was next to his bed, looking anxious.

"Mystia, is something wrong?" Harry asked, automatically going for his wand.

"No, master Harry, nothing is being wrong," Mystia said, clearly nervous. "I was overhearing your talk with Master Malfoy, Master Harry, and Mystia thinks she knows."

Harry looked at the house-elf, who was nervously pulling on one ear.

"What do you think you know, Mystia?" Harry asked.

"The power, Master Harry, the power," Mystia whispered.

"You know what it is?" Harry asked, excited.

"Mystia should not be telling, Master Harry, it being against rules," Mystia said, very sad.

"Could you tell me if I ordered you?" Harry asked, frowning.

"No, Master Harry, it not being Master Malfoy's rules. But Mystia is already saying too much…"

Mystia looked like she was ready to pop away, but Harry was desperate to find out what the power was he had used.

"Wait, Mystia, I won't force you. But the rules, someone made them, someone enforces them, right?" he asked.

Mystia nodded. The poor creature really looked miserable; she appeared to want to help so badly, but it was obvious that she couldn't.

"Well, maybe you could get permission to tell me from them?" Harry asked.

Mystia looked thoughtful.

"Mystia might be ables to. Mystia doesn't know, this has never been having asked before, Master Harry," Mystia said.

"Will you ask?" Harry asked, hopeful.

"Yes, Mystia wills be asking," the house-elf said, and popped away with a determined expression.

Harry chuckled. He was almost feeling sorry for whomever had to give Mystia permission to tell him. He'd recognized the look she had when she popped away, it was the same look she had worn when she'd made him promise to tell Lucius about the nightmares. Thinking about that made him consider if he should tell Lucius about this. He didn't, however, want to get Mystia into trouble, so he decided to wait. He would give Mystia the time to ask for permission. He could always tell Lucius later.

Looking at the clock, Harry saw that he had plenty of time to catch some more sleep before breakfast. That was, of course, assuming he didn't have a nightmare, but with good news lurking on the horizon, he suspected that he would be able to sleep just fine.

HPHPHPHPHP

The next day found Harry in the library, right next to Draco and Lucius. Lucius had told the boys that they had to complete some classes in the morning, and they would have the afternoons off to do research. That suited both boys just fine, and so it was that they were going through the vast library of the Malfoy family after lunch.

Harry had never known that there were so many magical disciplines, or possibilities. It seemed there were exciting career choices and specializations on every page he turned. It made him doubt if he wanted to be an Auror. He said that out loud to the Malfoys.

"Well, you don't have to choose until after your N.E.W.T.s, and since you'll be tutored almost one on one, you can take a lot more courses this year than you would if you were going to Hogwarts. So you'll have a lot more options after your N.E.W.T.s" Lucius said.

Harry nodded thoughtfully, but before he could reply, two soft pops were heard. In the middle of the library was Mystia, with by her side something that looked like a giant, dried, green plum. However, at a second glance, Harry saw that it was, in fact, a house-elf, albeit a very, very old one.

"Masters, this is being Head House-Elf of House-Elf Nation Big Island," Mystia said.

A/N: thanks to my fantastic beta Logical Quirk


	3. Chapter 3

3. Powers Come to Light

"_Masters, this is being Head House-Elf of House-Elf Nation Big Island," Mystia said._

"Er, hello," Harry said, not sure how to address the obviously important house-elf.

"Mystia, what is he doing here?" Lucius asked, while pulling Harry behind him protectively.

"Hes is being here to test Master Harry, Master Malfoy," Mystia answered.

"Test?" Luicus said, dropping his voice to a dangerous growl.

"If he is being passed, Mystia is being allowed to tell Master Harry, like Master Harry asked," Mystia said.

Lucius turned around to Harry, who gulped when he saw Lucius' look. At a raised eyebrow, Harry hurried to explain his midnight talk with Mystia.

"We will talk about this later," Lucius said. "But for now, I will allow you to be tested, as long as you," he addressed the ancient house-elf, "promise it is not in any way dangerous to his health, both physically and mentally."

"It is not dangerous," the house-elf said.

Lucius nodded, and Harry approached the house-elf cautiously, while Mystia stepped aside. Harry looked back at Lucius for a moment, but the stern expression of the man didn't bolster Harry's courage much.

"First test, you will answer questions, if you lie, you fail," the house-elf said.

Harry nodded; it sounded easy enough.

"Do you consider house-elfs as your equal?" the house-elf asked.

"Yes, I do," Harry answered.

"Have you ever wanted to hurt a house-elf?"

"Yes," Harry answered, thinking of Kreacher.

"What was the first thing you thought when you saw me?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again. If he was honest, he would likely insult the old house-elf, which could mean that Mystia might get in trouble. However, if he didn't tell the truth, he would fail. He looked at the old house-elf, who was waiting patiently for his answer.

"I thought you looked like a giant, dried, green plum," Harry said, blushing. "Sorry."

"You passed," the old house-elf said. "No offense taken, youngling. Now, second part of your test. You must punish a wizard who has hurt lots of house-elfs. It will show your loyalty to our race."

"Ok," Harry said, a bit hesitant. "Uh, how and who?"

"You will kill him, using this potion," the house-elf said, while handing him a small bottle.

Right, Harry thought, this shouldn't be too hard. Just give the potion to whatever bastard they wanted. Not a really big deal, especially if it was a Death Eater.

"So, er, who am I supposed to give this to?" Harry asked.

"Lucius Malfoy," the house-elf said.

Harry turned pasty white, and looked at Lucius with wide eyes. Draco gasped, and looked pleadingly at Harry. Harry put the bottle down on the floor, his hands shaking like a leaf.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that. I know he was mean to Dobby, I know he was mean in the past, but he's changed. And he's my family," Harry said. "I'd rather have my family than the information you have."

Harry turned away from the house-elf, only to be engulfed in Draco's arms.

"Thank you, for not killing my father, for defending him," Draco said.

"Well done, youngling, you passed," the old house-elf said.

Harry turned to face him, confused.

"What do you mean, I passed? I didn't do what you said."

"You showed great loyalty, youngling, worthy of a house-elf," the house-elf said. "We do not have all the answers, but your ability to transfer yourself from Hogwarts to here is that of popping, like we house-elfs do."

"And what about his ability to shield himself?" Lucius asked.

"That, I do not know. It is not something house-elfs can do. Wizards never look for us, so it is not a problem," the house-elf answered. "Now, we have helped you as far as we can, youngling. Good luck."

Before Harry, or anyone else, could say something, the ancient house-elf had popped away. Harry turned to Mystia, who shrugged her shoulders and popped out too.

"Well, that was interesting," Draco said.

"Indeed," Lucius answered. "We've come a bit closer to an answer."

Harry grinned. It felt good to know at least part of what he had done. He might not be able to reproduce the popping, but at least he knew where to concentrate his efforts.

"Yeah, it's great," Harry said.

"We should celebrate, how about a bit of flying? We could pull out a Quaffle, or maybe the Snitch," Draco said.

"Let's play with a Quaffle first," Harry said, while already walking out the door.

"I don't think so," Lucius said.

Harry and Draco turned around. Harry cast a side-look at Draco. What did Lucius mean? He couldn't honestly expect them to continue research after such a big breakthrough?

"Harry, you're grounded, which means no flying, and no visits to and from friends," Lucius said.

Harry's eyes widened in shock.

"What! You can't mean that, I didn't do anything wrong," Harry exclaimed.

"If you think you did nothing wrong, we have a more serious problem than we thought," Lucius answered. "I want you to go to your room, and stay there until I come to talk to you. You can use the time to figure out what you did wrong."

Harry continued to stand in the door opening of the library for while, but Lucius ignored him. He turned to Draco, who silently shook his head and walked back to the table with books. It seemed both Draco and Lucius had decided to ignore him, on top of being punished without doing anything wrong. Hot tears burning in his eyes, Harry walked away. He refused to let his tears fall until he was in his room, where he cried himself to sleep.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

"Mister Potter, wake up this instant!"

Harry shot straight up, apologizing profusely about how he didn't mean to fall asleep in Potions class. Then, his surroundings got through to him, and he realized he was not in Potions class, and neither was he in Malfoy Manor.

"Professor Snape, where are we?" Harry asked confused.

"We, Mister Potter, are in my personal quarters at Hogwarts. I am supposed to be here, whereas you are supposed to be at Malfoy Manor. So, the better question would be, why are you here and how did you come here?"

Harry blinked. If he didn't know any better, he'd actually think Snape was worried about him. That led to thoughts about Lucius and Draco, and new tears in his eyes.

"Mister Potter, I am still waiting for an answer," Snape said.

Harry pushed away his tears, knowing Snape was showing remarkable restraint as it was by not hexing him on sight.

"I, er, I don't know. I fell asleep in my room, then woke up here. I think I might have popped…" Harry said.

"Explain," Snape said.

And Harry did. He told Snape about Mystia, the ancient house-elf, his punishment, and ending up here. At the end of his story, Snape looked pensive.

"Er, Sir, what do we do now?" Harry asked.

"I will call Lucius, so you can go home," Snape said.

Harry bit his lip. He didn't want to go back to Malfoy Manor, where they were ignoring him without reason. But he also didn't want to stay at Hogwarts, where he had to deal with Dumbledore and all of the students.

"Er, I'm not sure I want to go back, Professor," Harry said.

"Nonetheless, I will need to inform Lucius where you are," Snape said.

He walked through a door to what seemed like an office in the quick glance Harry was able to get of the room before the door closed. No more than ten minutes later, the door opened again, but it wasn't Snape that came out. Instead, it was Lucius.

"Harry, what happened? Severus mentioned something about you falling asleep and popping?" Lucius asked.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't really in the mood to talk to Lucius, besides, he'd probably just get more punishment for leaving his room, or something.

"All right, we'll go home, and I'll put up some wards that will tell me when you leave the house, just in case something like this happens again," Lucius said.

"Oh good, what's the next step? Deliver me to Voldemort?" Harry said sarcastically.

At that, Lucius looked alarmed and took a seat opposite Harry.

"Harry, this isn't meant to keep you prisoner, it's meant to keep you safe. If you pop when you are asleep, who knows where you could end up? If we don't find out you're gone until the next morning, a lot of things could've happened in the mean time," Lucius said.

Harry shrugged his shoulders again. He didn't really believe Lucius. After all, the man kept breaking his promises. First he promised to help, then he did nothing, well, hardly anything, and then when Harry found out something, he got punished. It was like Lucius was turning into Uncle Vernon, with his unjustified punishments.

"Harry, what's the matter? You know you can tell me anything. I can't help you if you don't talk to me," Lucius said.

"Yeah, right. And when I do talk to you, I get punished," Harry replied surly.

"Oh, Harry, you really don't understand, do you? You weren't punished for asking Mystia for help, I grounded you because you didn't tell me about it. This time the tests weren't dangerous, but they could've been. And they could've required you to take the tests when nobody was around to help you," Lucius said.

"But how was I suppose to know that I would have to take a test," Harry exclaimed. "I just thought Mystia was going to ask for permission, and that the answer would be either yes or no, and then she would come and tell me, or say that she wasn't allowed."

"If that was the case, why didn't you tell me about it?" Lucius asked.

"I didn't want you to order Mystia to tell, she was really scared, like she wanted to tell really badly but wasn't allowed. I didn't want to get her hurt," Harry said softly.

Lucius stood and took Harry in his arms.

"I understand why you didn't tell me, but you have to understand that there is a lot you don't know about the Wizarding World. This is why you have to tell me such things, because I could've told you that there was going to be a test, there always is in cases like this. And I am a bit disappointed that you didn't trust me enough to believe that I wouldn't hurt Mystia like that, although I can understand your lack of trust. It's something we will work on," Lucius said.

Harry sighed, if you said it like that, the punishment made a bit more sense. He mentally apologized to Lucius for comparing him to Uncle Vernon.

"Now, are you ready to go home?" Lucius asked.

Harry nodded.

"Good. But Harry, do realize that you are still grounded this week," Lucius said.

"I understand," Harry said.

Together, they walked into Snape's office, where Snape was sitting behind a desk, probably correcting essays. Snape looked at Harry with a searching look, although Harry couldn't for the likes of him figure out what the man was looking for. He seemed to find it, though, as he nodded once, and turned back to his marking.

A pinch of floo powder and a nauseating trip later, Harry was home again.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry woke up excited. He was going to Hogsmeade today, to meet up with Ron and Hermione. It had been two weeks since he'd been grounded, and he was still glad it had only lasted a week. And that it hadn't happened during a Hogsmeade weekend, because he really missed his friends.

Getting up, he was quickly dressed and downstairs for breakfast. Lucius and Narcissa were already there, but Draco wasn't. He walked in five minutes after Harry. After a quick breakfast, Lucius went through the rules for that day one more time.

"Naricssa and I will drop the both of you of at Hogsmeade. There, you can meet up with your friends. We will pick the both of you up at three o'clock in front of the three broomsticks. You will not leave the boundaries of Hogsmeade, clear?"

Both boys nodded, they'd heard it all before and it was very clear. Soon after, they were on their way to meet their respective friends.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry and Ron were exclaiming over the newest racing broom on the market, while Hermione was listening indulgently. As if by mutual agreement, they had avoided any really heavy subjects. Harry had given them the short version of what had happened since Christmas when they'd met up, and after that, they had avoided any subject that touched upon Voldemort or the prophecy.

They spend the morning strolling through Hogsmeade, and around noon they settled at a table in the Three Broomsticks. They only had to wait for fifteen minutes before Draco, Pansy, Theo, Greg, Blaise, and Vincent came in and joined them. Harry was feeling nervous, for the first time that day. Ron and Hermione might have accepted the Malfoys, mind-boggling as that was, but that didn't mean that they would accept the rest of the Slytherins. Or vice versa, really, for the same could be said of Draco's friends.

But as it turned out, Harry was nervous for nothing. Although everybody seemed a bit careful about what they said in the beginning, as lunch progressed, conversation flowed freely. There was talk of Quidditch and pranks, and lots of laughter. Harry felt free and joyous, and almost wished the day would never end. Sipping at his butterbeer, and looking at the people that sat at the table, he had hope for a better future after Voldemort was defeated, something he'd never dared to dream about before.

However, when lunch drew to a close, Harry started to feel uneasy. He couldn't quite pinpoint why, but the feeling grew ever stronger. He started to fidget in his chair, until finally the feeling got so strong he couldn't ignore it anymore.

"Hey guys, let's get out of here," Harry said.

"Are you all right?" Draco asked him, looking concerned.

"Yeah, I just need a little fresh air, is all," Harry answered.

The group went outside, and by mutual consent walked towards Honeydukes. But before they were there, the air turned frosty, and Harry felt like someone had sucked away all the air around him.

"Dementors," Hermione said, sounding just as breathless as Harry felt.

Screams were heard from the other side of town. Harry grabbed his wand and started to make his way towards where the screams were coming from. A hand on his arm stopped him. He turned to see Draco's worried face.

"Don't go there, it's dangerous. And besides, if you rush in there, father's going to skin you alive," Draco said.

"Draoc's right, Harry," Blaise said. "Let the adults handle this, we just need to stay safe."

Harry sighed. He knew they were right, but it was hard for him not to rush to the rescue of the people who were screaming. In the end, he lowered his wand and nodded.

"Let's go to the shrieking shack, that's far enough away from the mayhem," Ron said.

With the pace they had, they reached the shack within five minutes. The group huddled together as their breath made little puffs of vapor in the icy air.

"Is it me, or is it getting colder?" Pansy whispered.

"The Dementors must be getting closer," Hermione answered.

A few minutes later, Hermione's words proved true as the Dementors came within sight.

"There's fifteen of them!" Theo shouted, sounding shocked and frightened.

In the next instant, a stag, an otter and a Jack Russell terrier charged at the Dementors.

"It's not working, there are too many Dementors," Hermione said, as five more Dementors entered the scene.

The Dementors kept coming closer, despite the best efforts of the three Patronus animals.

"We need to get out of here," Draco said.

The children began to run, ever aware of the cold around them that told them the Dementors were still on their tail. The fled over the train tracks, towards the castle, looking for a safe haven there. Harry looked behind him – the Dementors were closing in.

"We can't outrun them! We'll never reach the castle in time. Head for the trees, maybe we can shake them of in the forest," he shouted to the rest.

The group veered off towards the Forbidden Forest, weaving through the trees in an effort to shake off the Dementors. After what seemed like hours of running, but couldn't have been more than thirty minutes, the group stopped. Harry was sucking in great gulps of air, while looking around for any trace of the Dementors. There were none.

"I think they're gone," Draco said.

Then, the bushes around them rustled, and suddenly they found themselves surrounded by angry centaurs. The teens formed a loose circle, with their backs to each other and wands at the ready, but they were severely outnumbered. They were kept at arrow point, and there didn't seem to be a way out.

"Er, hello," Harry said.

"You are trespassing, human," one of the centaurs spat out.

"Er, we didn't mean to," Harry said. "But we were being chased by Dementors. They seem to be gone now, so if you'd just direct us out of the forest, we'll be gone."

"We have been lenient before, human, but no longer," the centaur said. "Grab them!"

Several centaurs jumped forward, and before the group knew it, they had lost their wands and were tied up. Hermione groaned, and Harry saw a bit of blood trickle down her head.

"We'll take them with us," one of the centaurs said. "The elders can decide what to do with them."

Apparently, everyone was in agreement, because the teens were hoisted up from the floor and led through the forest. Draco ended up walking next to Harry.

"Draco, you're father's absolutely going to kill us, isn't he?" Harry whispered.

"Just as soon as he rescues us, yes," Draco said.


	4. Chapter 4

4. Doing the Impossible, Again

After a fairly long trek through the woods, the group of centaurs and teens reached a clearing. It was clear this was the centaur village, even though there were no houses. Cooking fires were lit at several places, and Harry could see some centaur children playing. Everyone in the village stopped with their activities to watch the throng of teens being led to the center of the clearing. Several older centaurs stepped forward. A heated, but whispered conversation between these centaurs and the one that had captured them ensued.

Draco sidled up to Harry.

"What do you think they'll do to us?" he whispered.

Harry shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. It's hard to predict. They're as likely to let us go as kill us," he answered softly.

Draco snorted.

"Thanks, Harry, that's reassuring," he said.

Nothing more was said, and not long after that, the centaurs apparently reached an agreement. The one that had captured them came forward.

"I am Magorian, and in the name of the council of elders, I inform you of the decision that you will be held captive until such a time as the wizards will comply with our demands," the centaur said.

Several of the Slytherins and Ron began to protest, but Harry didn't listen to them. He was more interested in the poles several centaurs were placing in the ground. He had the feeling he wasn't going to like what they were for.

Sometime later, bound tightly to one of the poles, Harry reflected wryly that he had been right. He didn't like what the poles were for.

"I hate to be right," he grumbled. "It's like they're playing bloody cowboys and Indians."

Hermione, who was bound to the pole left from him, must have heard him, for she let out a laugh. Harry chose to ignore the fact that it sounded slightly hysterical. He turned his head to the right to see how Draco was doing.

"How are you?" Harry asked him.

"Just bloody peachy," Draco said. "This is so beneath a Malfoy!"

Harry smiled. Trust Draco to be worried about a thing like that. Turning his head back to the left, he saw four centaur children playing. One of the children looked a lot like Magorian, with his brown hair and grey eyes. He was clearly Magorian's son.

"Hey Hermione," Harry said. "Where do you think the women and the rest of the children are?"

"There are no women, and I doubt there are any more children," she answered.

Harry felt confused. If there were no centaur women, then where did the children come from? He voiced his question to Hermione, who sighed. Harry was sure she was holding in a comment about him never reading a book.

"Some centaurs, not all, are hermaphrodites. It means that they have both male and female reproduction organs, in other words, they have man bits and woman parts," Hermione said.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, Hermione, I do know what you mean with reproduction organs," he said.

Hermione ignored him and continued her explanation.

"So these hermaphrodites are the only ones that are able to bear children. Hermaphroditism is quite common in the animal kingdom. However, hermaphrodite centaurs are very rare, so they, as a race, don't have many children," Hermione said.

Harry looked at the village again, only with new eyes now. He had a feeling that wizards were responsible for the scarcity of hermaphrodite centaurs. It would explain a lot of the centaurs's anger towards the wizards.

Later that day, as the sun began to set, the centaurs each went to their own fires for dinner. Right in Harry's sightline was Magorian's fire, and Harry was pleased to see he had been right. The centaur child he'd seen earlier that day was indeed Magorian's son. The two shared the same fire, and Magorian cuddled with the boy before sending him to bed. Harry smiled. Such a domestic scene no longer reminded him about what he missed. Now, it reminded him that he belonged to a family. He turned to Draco to say something about it, but was distracted by movement at the edge of the clearing. Squinting his eyes, he suddenly recognized the figure moving there; Narcissa! That could only mean one thing, rescue was near.

Only moments later, spells came flying from every side. One came straight at Harry, and he tried to get out of the way, but he couldn't move because of the ropes holding him in place. But as the spell hit him, instead of the pain he was expecting, the only thing that happened was that the ropes binding him disappeared. He was free.

Looking around, he saw that the others were also free. They began running towards several Order members they could see, trying not to get hit with anything. Suddenly, Harry heard the cry of a child. Looking to the right, he sae saw Magorian's son on the ground, bleeding. It looked bad. It only took him a moment to make up his mind, and he veered off from the group towards the child. He heard Draco call his name, but paid him no heed.

When Harry reached the child, he fell to his knees next to him. The child couldn't be more than seven years old, Harry saw. The boy was barely conscious. He was laying on his side, and there was a lot of blood. There was a deep gash in his abdomen, probably caused by a Cutting Curse. Harry furiously thought over the healing spells Lucius had been teaching Draco and him. There was one that could be used to heal cuts. Harry grabbed for his wand, then cursed. The centaurs had taken his wand, he couldn't do anything.

"Get away from my son!"

Harry looked up, directly at Magorian, who had an arrow pointed straight at his heart.

"Please, I need my wand. I can help him, but I need my wand to do it," Harry said.

Magorian looked at him searchingly, then nodded and galloped away. Harry hoped he'd be back soon.

"Harry, what are you doing?" a familiar voice said.

Lucius was suddenly beside him, pulling on his arm.

"We need to go," Lucius said.

Harry shook his head and pulled his arm from Lucius' grasp.

"I can't. I need to help him first," he told Lucius.

Just then, Magorian returned with Harry's wand. He looked suspiciously at Lucius, who had his wand pointed at Magorian, but handed Harry's wand to Harry without a word.

"I'll just use _Redivivus_, and then we can go," Harry said to Lucius,

"Harry, you can't…" Lucius said.

"Yes, I can, and I will," Harry interrupted him, and he pointed his wand at the wound. "_Redivivus_."

For a moment, it looked like nothing had happened, but then the wound began to close. It went slow, much slower than Harry was used to, but eventually the wound was closed.

"Now we can go," Harry said, turning to Lucius.

"Harry, that spell… It shouldn't have worked," Lucius said.

Harry looked confused.

"Did I do it wrong?" he asked.

Lucius shook his head.

"No, you didn't do it wrong, but it's only supposed to work on small, superficial wounds. That's what I tried to tell you before you used it," Lucius said.

"Well, it seems the centaurs owe you much gratitude, Harry Potter," Magorian said.

Harry grinned.

"It's Harry Malfoy now, and you're welcome," he said.

Magorian inclined his head, while holding his son, who was softly crying, close.

"Still, Harry Malfoy, my people and I owe you. Should you need our aide aid, you only have to call on us," Magorian said.

Harry inclined his head, not knowing how to respond to that. Magorian took one last look at Lucius, who was standing behind Harry in a protective stance, then took his leave. Lucius led Harry away.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry sat on a couch at Malfoy Manor. He felt utterly exhausted. He'd had to tell some random Order member what had happened, and then he had to tell it all over again to an Auror. And then, Dumbledore had wanted to hear the whole story yet again. Harry closed his eyes in the hope he would fall asleep and not have to tell his story to Lucius, but luck was not with him. A few minutes after he'd closed his eyes, he heard Lucius and Draco come in.

"Harry, it's your turn now," Lucius said.

Harry contemplated if he'd get away with playing asleep, but figured it wasn't worth the trouble. He sighed and stood to follow Lucius to his office. Once there, Harry sank down in one of the chairs.

"Why don't you tell me what happened?" Lucius said.

Harry told the whole story again, then he fell silent. He looked down at the floor, tracing the pattern of the carpet with his eyes.

"You did well, Harry," Lucius said, causing Harry to look up to the man in shock.

"What do you mean, I did well? I made so many mistakes," Harry stammered.

Lucius leaned forward, and placed his hand on Harry's knee.

"What mistakes do you think you made?" Lucius asked.

"I led us almost straight in the arms of a group of Dementors," Harry said.

"First of all, I believe that it was a group decision to head for the Shrieking Shack, so you are not alone in the blame. Secondly, there is no blame, because the decision was right. Had you gone the other way, you would've encountered both Dementors and Death Eaters," Lucius said.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. Fine, maybe it had been a good idea to get away from the trouble, but that didn't excuse him from the rest.

"Yeah, but when the Dementors came, I led everyone straight into the centaurs' arms. I should've remembered the hidden tunnel that leads from the Shrieking Shack to Hogwarts. We could've been safe. Instead, I led everyone to the centaurs, which caused people on both sides to be injured," Harry said morosely.

"Yes, you could've remembered that, but you shouldn't forget the outcome. No one was badly injured or killed, and now you have an alliance with the centaurs. You are amassing allies, and that will save lives when the final battle comes. Don't forget that," Lucius said.

Harry peeked at Lucius through his fringe. Did he really do the right thing this time? Had he, for once, not screwed up?

Lucius must have seen something of his inner turmoil, as he pulled Harry in a hug.

"You did well, Harry, you did well," Lucius whispered in Harry's ear.

Harry closed his eyes and sank down in the hug. He knew Lucius wouldn't lie, not about this. For once, he had done the right thing, and it felt liberating.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

The cold of the Dementors seemed to close around Harry as he ran. Before him he could see Theo, Gregory, and Vincent running. He knew the rest of the group was just behind him. Suddenly, he heard Hermione scream. Harry looked behind him, just in time to see one of the Dementors Kiss Hermione. Her screams stopped abruptly. Suddenly, Harry was yanked forward by Draco.

"We don't have time to stop," Draco said.

Harry began running again. He might want to scream, and cry, and curl up into a little ball, but Draco was right. They couldn't stop.

Next to Harry, Ron stumbled. Draco pulled Harry along, so he couldn't stop to help his friend. The last thing Harry saw of Ron was two Dementors sweeping down upon him.

The rest of the group was nowhere in sight, but Harry heard Pansy cry out. It too, was cut short, just like Hermione's. Harry ran further, led by Draco's hand around his wrist. He couldn't see where he was walking because of the tears streaming out of his eyes. His lungs felt like they would burst apart, but Harry pushed himself to run faster.

And finally, finally, a large structure came into view. Hogwarts. They'd made it, they were safe. Once they reached the entrance of the castle, Harry fell down upon his knees, exhausted. Draco however, remained standing. Harry turned to look at him, to ask why he wasn't sitting down, for surely Draco would also be tired. But the words got stuck in his throat, because Draco's eyes were hollow, as hollow as the eyes of someone Kissed.

Harry screamed and shot upright. He took a few panicked breaths.

"Not real, not real, not real," he muttered to himself.

However, he couldn't quite stop panicking, so he threw of his blankets and stumbled out of his room. The hallway was dimly lit, as always late at night, and Harry quickly found his way to Draco's room.

"Whozzit?" Draco murmured, as Harry came in.

"It's me," Harry said.

Draco pushed himself in a half-sitting position and turned on the lights.

Harry had to blink a few times to get used to the light, but when he did, he saw a very much alive, if slightly sleepy, Draco. The adrenaline rush and barely restrained panic suddenly left Harry, making him feel dizzy and weak. He sank to his knees, sobbing. Draco was out of bed in a flash, holding him, talking to him. Harry had no idea what Draco was saying, but he concentrated on Draco's voice. As long as Draco was talking, he was all right, he was alive, he was here.

Once Harry had calmed down a bit, Draco pulled Harry over to the bed.

"Get in," Draco said.

Harry looked at Draco in confusion.

"If you think I'm letting you out of my sight after that, You're wrong. But, it's much too cold to be standing here in our pajamas, so get in," Draco said.

Harry sighed. It didn't look like Draco was going to let this go, so he climbed in the bed. Draco did so too. Harry hoped he would just fall asleep, safe in the knowledge that his brother was safe, but it seemed Draco had other ideas.

"What happened?" Draco asked.

"Just a dream," Harry answered.

Draco snorted.

"Yeah, right. Just a dream doesn't leave you on my bedroom floor crying. So, I ask again, what happened?" Draco said.

"It really was a dream," Harry said, "or more of a nightmare, actually."

Draco looked at him with concern in his eyes.

"I thought the nightmares were finally under control," he said.

Harry sighed.

"Yeah, they are, for the most part. This one was triggered by what happened today," Harry answered.

"Will you tell me about it?" Draco asked.

Harry thought about it. Would he tell? He knew that if he didn't, Draco would just tell Lucius, and Lucius would make him talk anyway, because according to him, nightmares would only stop if you talked about them. Harry hadn't believed that at first, but after only a few days there had been results already. It seemed as if you could indeed talk nightmares to death.

"It was about today," Harry said, having made his decision. "Only, in my dream, the Dementors caught up with us. They Kissed everyone, one by one. In the end, it was just you and me, running, And then we reached Hogwarts, and I thought we were safe."

Harry fell silent.

"But?" Draco asked softly.

"But when I turned to you, I saw you'd been Kissed too. You were gone, only your body was still there," Harry said.

Draco didn't say anything, but just pulled Harry into a hug. Harry started crying again.

"I thought I'd lost you," Harry whispered in Draco's pajama-clad chest.

"I'm still here, I'm not going anywhere," Draco said.

"You could've been killed," Harry said, pulling away from the hug to look Draco in the face.

"No, because I could never, would never, leave my little brother," Draco said.

Harry knew, rationally, that there was no way Draco could make such a promise, but somehow, he still believed him. He gave Draco a watery smile, which was returned with a brilliant one from Draco.

"Say Harry," Draco said after a few minutes of silence, "wherever did you go when we were running away from the centaurs. I didn't get to ask you before."

Harry grinned. He should've known Draco couldn't keep that question to himself for long.

"When we were tied up, I noticed that one of the centaur children was Magorian's son. When we were running away, he got hit with a spell. I went to help him," Harry said.

"Merlin, you are either insane or have absolutely no sense of self-preservation whatsoever," Draco said, while rolling his eyes.

Harry snorted.

Well, excuse me for wanting to save the life of a child, especially since him dying would have been partly my fault," Harry said.

Draco glared at Harry.

"It would not have been your fault, it would have been their own fault. If they hadn't captured us, we wouldn't have need saving, and they would not have been attacked," Draco said.

"I know, but still. Anyway, it's a moot point. I did save the kid's life," Harry said.

"Dad must have been pissed at you," Draco said.

Harry laughed.

"I was sure he would be, but he was more surprised that I managed to heal a very deep slash wound with _Redivivus_," Harry said.

"That shouldn't have worked," Draco said.

"I know," was all Harry said.

He was getting used to doing things others couldn't, and had long giving up on being normal. He said as much to Draco.

"I guess you are right," Draco said. "Doesn't make it any less remarkable."

Harry shrugged his shoulders. He supposed Draco had a point there. Harry finished his tale of what had happened by telling Draco about the alliance he now had with the centaurs. After he'd finished, Draco burst out in laughter.

"What's so funny," Harry asked, a little annoyed.

"It's like you're collecting them," Draco said. "First you have house-elves alliance with you, now it's the centaurs. I wonder who's next? The goblins?"

Draco started laughing again, and Harry joined him. Then, Harry realized what Draco had said. He stopped laughing, and looked at Draco in amazement. Draco, seeing that Harry had stopped laughing, quieted down.

"What?" he asked.

"Draco, you're a genius," Harry said.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5. Goblins Galore

"_It's like you're collecting them," Draco said. "First you have house-elves alliance with you, now it's the centaurs. I wonder who's next? The goblins?"__"Draco, you're a genius," Harry said._

Draco started laughing again, and Harry joined him. Then, Harry realized what Draco had said. He stopped laughing, and looked at Draco in amazement. Draco, seeing that Harry had stopped laughing, quieted down.

"What?" he asked.

"Thank you, I know," Draco said. "Care to tell me why I'm a genius this time?"

"The goblins; they're good with wards and all, they can help figure out what I did when I was five," Harry said enthusiastically.

"Yeah you're right - that is, if you can get them to help. Maybe Dad can help there, he does a lot of business with the goblins," Draco said.

Harry was practically bouncing where he sat. If the goblins could figure out what he had done then he would be one step closer to defeating Voldemort, and thus one step closer to being free.

"Come on, let's go talk to your father," Harry said.

"Harry, you do realize it's the middle of the night," Draco said, sounding amused.

Harry deflated a bit. He'd actually forgotten that.

"Oh, right. Guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow," he said, blushing.

"Yeah, so let's get some more sleep," Draco suggested.

"Can I stay here for the rest of the night?" Harry asked, trying to sound casual.

"Sure," Draco answered.

After the light was out Draco fell asleep fairly quickly. Harry, however, stayed awake for some time, listening to Draco's breathing and fantasizing about a life after Voldemort. Eventually, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Two weeks later Harry had breakfast with the rest of the Malfoys. Only he wasn't exactly eating - he was pushing his food around his plate.

"Harry, dear, you have to eat something," Narcissa urged him, "you're far too thin as it is."

"I'm not really hungry," Harry answered.

Narcissa looked at him, disapproval and unbelief clearly on her face. Harry tried to resist but when a touch of motherly concern became visible, he broke down.

"I'm too nervous to eat," Harry said. "What if I mess up? They could end up killing us, or worse."

"Don't worry, Harry," Lucius said. "You'll do fine; we practiced, and you know it all. You haven't made a mistake in the past three days, you won't make one today."

Harry gave Lucius a wan smile and took a bite of his toast to please Narcissa. She smiled and resumed eating, so that made the sandpaper-taste of the toast worth it. However two bites later, Harry really couldn't eat another bite. Lucius, seeing that Harry had once again stopped eating, pushed his own breakfast aside.

"How about we get going­?" Lucius said.

Harry nodded eagerly. The sooner this was over, the better. Planning like a Slytherin might be helpful sometimes but jumping in without a thought saved him the nerves at least. Yes, the sooner he was done with the goblins, the better.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Lucius and Harry walked down a deserted Diagon Alley. As they were so early, no shops were open yet. Only Gringotts was open, and even the bank was much quieter than Harry was used to.

Lucius walked up to one of the tellers and requested to speak to the manager. As anticipated, the goblin behind the desk wasn't very inclined to comply with the request. While Lucius continued to negotiate with the goblin, Harry looked around. By the entrance to the carts were several goblins. Harry vaguely recognized one. Then it hit him. Griphook, the goblin that had taken him to his vault the first time.

He looked back up at Lucius, whom was still not having any luck getting the goblin to meet his request . He tapped Lucius lightly on the arm, which garnered no response, unless you counted the quick frown the older man gave him. Harry sighed. Lucius had taught him to always have several back-up plans and to acquire enough knowledge to be able to change the plan at any given moment. Well, Harry had enough knowledge to see that this particular plan wasn't working, so he was going to try something else. And if Lucius didn't agree, ah well, serves him right for ignoring Harry's interruption.

Walking away from Lucius, who was so busy with the goblin that he didn't even notice, Harry made his way over to the other group of goblins. He sternly told the butterflies in his stomach to stop flying around, and tried to school his features into a calm expression. Griphook and the goblin closest to him both looked at him when he stopped in front of them.

"Highly regarded warrior, might I impose on your valuable time?" Harry said to Griphook, hoping he'd phrased the formal request correctly, or else he'd be a dead man, literally.

"And to what would I be giving my valuable time?" Griphook answered after a slight pause.

Harry felt relieved. At least he was given a chance to speak. Now all he'd have to do is say everything correctly so that the goblins wouldn't try to weasel out of the deal.

"Your time would be used by myself to give you information concerning a threat against your people," Harry said.

"What could possibly threaten our people?" another goblin growled.

"The person who broke into your vaults five years ago," Harry answered. "The person who would exterminate you as if you were rodents, if he could, or maybe it's better said, when he can."

The goblin seemed to get angry and started to reply, but Griphook beat him to it.

"And what would I be required to give in return for your valuable time?" Griphook asked.

Harry took a deep breath and tried to quell his nerves. Now was the all-crucial reply.

"Information on a very specific ward and how to use it to my best abilities," Harry answered.

Griphook frowned.

"I am not high enough in rank to make such a decision alone. Follow me and you can give your request to the manager," Griphook said.

For a second Harry hesitated and looked at Lucius. Then, deliberately looking away from the man who was still arguing with the goblin behind the desk, he followed Griphook deeper into the bank.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

The floo in Malfoy Manor flared to life and Harry and Lucius came through it. Lucius had a firm grip on Harry's arm that, while it wouldn't bruise him, clearly let Harry know that Lucius was not happy with him. Not that he needed such a clue, the thunderous expression on Lucius' face said it all really. In fact, it said things so well that Narcissa and Draco, who had been waiting for them to come home, didn't say a word as Harry was led to his room by a silent Lucius. Once inside, Lucius turned Harry to face him.

"Right now I am far too angry to talk to you, or even to punish you. Therefore you will remain here until I've sufficiently regained my temper. I'll send Mystia with your evening meal. I will talk to you tomorrow."

With that, Lucius left Harry standing in his room. His elation about the information the Goblins had provided him long gone, Harry sat despondently on his bed. He knew he'd really screwed up this time and Lucius was really, really angry. Harry could even understand that, seeing as he did something very dangerous. Still, at the time, it had seemed like a good idea. A stab of guilt raced through his mind as he thought about his actions, because if he was really honest with himself, he'd known it was a bad idea at the time. With a sigh, he lay down on his bed to wait for Mystia to bring his supper, which, knowing Mystia, was going to be accompanied by a lecture.

HPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry sat in Lucius' office, watching the other man as he paced around, nervously waiting for him to start talking. After what seemed like an eternity, Lucius sighed and sat down across from Harry, behind his desk.

"Right, let's start with the most important question. Do you understand why I was so angry with you yesterday?" Lucius asked.

Harry nodded.

"Then explain it to me."

"I shouldn't have gone to talk with Griphook without you," Harry answered.

"Do you know why?"

"Because it was dangerous," Harry almost whispered.

"Exactly, so why did you do it anyway?" Lucius asked, sounding both curious and disapproving at once.

"I tried to get your attention, but when you didn't react I…"

Harry fell silent, not knowing how to verbalize why he'd done what he'd done.

"You decided to do it on your own, just like you've always done," Lucius finished.

Harry nodded.

"I understand why you did that. You've been trained, all your life, to do things on your own. To not trust adults. First by those despicable relatives of yours and then by the teachers you had."

Harry listened wide-eyed to what Lucius was saying. Looking at it like that, it made so much sense.

" But that doesn't make it right to persist to do so now," Lucius continued. "And while I understand that it will take some time to learn that you can trust Narcissa and me, the best way to help you learn is to have consequences that will be enforced if you do something like yesterday. As such, you're grounded for one month. That means no flying, no horseback riding, no contact with your friends, and no translating Slytherin's book until your punishment is over."

Harry swallowed heavily; that was a big punishment. The last time he'd only been grounded a week and it was almost unbearable. But what he'd miss most were the quiet evenings, twice a week, working with Lucius on translating Slytherin's book. Still, he got why the punishment was so heavy and he told Lucius as much.

"Good," Lucius said, coming around to Harry's side of the desk. "Let's get some breakfast."

Lucius led Harry out of his office with his arm around the boy's shoulder, and Harry reflected on the fact that that was so much better than being locked in a cupboard. This was what a real father should do when punishing his child, and that thought gave Harry a warm feeling, whether he was grounded or not.

HPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry and Draco were just coming back from the field behind Malfoy Manor, where they'd been flying, celebrating the end of Harry's punishment, when Harry heard Lucius call his name. Looking up from his conversation with Draco, he saw Lucius striding towards him, a thunderous look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked as soon as Lucius was within hearing range.

"Dumbledore is here, he wants to see you," Lucius said.

Harry pulled a face. He wasn't really looking forward to talking with Dumbledore about personal stuff.

"You don't have to see him," Lucius added, "I can tell him to go away."

"Did he say what he wanted?" Draco asked with contempt in his voice.

"He said something about talking things through with Harry," Lucius replied.

"I might as well see what he has to say," Harry answered.

He gave his broom and gloves to Draco and then went with Lucius to the parlor where Dumbledore was waiting for him.

Dumbledore stood when Harry and Lucius entered. A genial smile came to the man's face, making him look like the kind grandfather he'd always posed as. This time, Harry wasn't buying it. Last time Dumbledore had been all business, after the Order had helped rescue Harry and the others from the centaurs. Harry found he could more easily overlook what the man had done if he wasn't acting so terribly hypocritical.

"I'd like to speak with Harry in private," Dumbledore said.

Lucius looked at Harry, who nodded his assent, and then left saying he would be close by. Harry plopped down on the couch, thinking it was his house and Dumbledore could go screw himself if he had a problem with it. Dumbledore sat back down and smiled sadly at Harry.

"Harry, I can understand that you're angry with me. But I want you to know that I've never wanted to see you hurt. When I placed you with the Dursleys, I honestly thought that it was the best option," Dumbledore said.

"I get that, that you'd thought placing me with my last living family was the best thing, but why never check on me? And when I came to Hogwarts and you knew I wasn't happy there, why didn't you take me away?" Harry asked.

"I'll admit that not checking up on you was a mistake, but when you came to school and you weren't happy, I just thought it was because of your relatives' dislike of magic. And since you'd only have to spend summer holidays there I didn't see it as a priority to take you away from what were very strong wards and relative obscurity. If I had known about the abuse, I never would have left you there," Dumbledore said earnestly.

Harry looked Dumbledore in the eye. He seemed honest and Harry could understand the decisions Dumbledore made, if he really hadn't known about the abuse.

"You really didn't know?"

Dumbledore shook his head.

"No Harry, I did not know you were abused. Unhappy, yes, but abused, no. I never would have stood for that."

"In that case, I accept your apology," Harry said.

Dumbledore beamed.

"Good, good. Now that that's out of the way, we should discuss some important things. To start with, you should tell your friends to stop the childish pranks they have been conducting. They are very disruptive and we are at war right now, I can't be constantly accosted by pranks," Dumbledore said.

"Pranks?" Harry said, confused by the sudden change in topic.

"Don't tell me you don't know, Harry. Your friends, with Miss Granger and Mister Weasley as the main instigators, have been constantly pranking me. And it concerns me, quite frankly, to note the increasing nastiness of the pranks," Dumbledore said, looking reprovingly at Harry over his glasses.

"No, I don't know what you're talking about. And if you're so concerned, you should do something about it, why come to me with it?" Harry said, not liking where the conversation was going.

"Now Harry, if I had any proof, I would have taken them to task already, but as I have no hard evidence, I can't do that. However, you telling them to stop will solve the problem nicely," Dumbledore said.

Harry saw red. The absolute, fucking hypocrite.

"This whole thing, this whole apology, it's just because you want me back at Hogwarts doing your bidding," Harry said, disgusted with what he was hearing.

"Now, Harry…."

"Don't call me Harry," Harry shouted. "You don't have the right to call me that! You just want me to do what you say, that's all that matters to you. Nothing of that apology was sincere, you just said it because that's what would get me to listen."

Harry had stood while he was ranting, and now Dumbledore stood too. Harry was breathing heavily from anger.

"Is there a problem here?" Lucius said, his tone icy, as he re-entered the room.

Harry calmed down a bit hearing Lucius, and seeing him standing in the doorway with Narcissa next to him.

"No, of course not," Dumbledore said.

Lucius ignored him, and instead said: "Harry?"

"We're done talking, and I don't want him here anymore. He's just a hypocrite who wants to control me," Harry stated.

"Very well," Lucius nodded. "Why don't you go with Narcissa while I show Headmaster Dumbledore out?"

Harry stepped towards Narcissa but Dumbledore moved to block his path. Before Harry could react, Lucius was there next to him, wand out, pulling him to stand behind Lucius' back.

"Do not even think of touching my son."

Lucius sounded dangerous and Harry suddenly had no trouble remembering that Lucius had been a high ranking Death Eater. However, Narcissa, still standing in the doorway with her wand out, was looking even more dangerous than Lucius sounded. If Harry didn't know it would likely be taken as an insult, he'd have compared her to an angry lioness protecting her cubs.

"I will take my leave, but Harry should keep in mind that if those pranks go too far, Azkaban could be a real possibility," Dumbledore said.

With those words he left, leaving Harry feeling very worried for his friends, and questioning which side the Headmaster actually was on.

"Can he really throw them into Azkaban for pranking him?" Harry asked Lucius.

"If the pranks are considered dangerous and he has solid evidence they did it, then yes, in theory he could," Lucius answered.

Harry looked worriedly at Lucius.

"Don't worry, honey," Narcissa said, laying her hand on his shoulder. "Even if they are the ones pranking him, they will never be tied to those pranks."

Harry looked in confusion at Narcissa.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because, should they be behind it, I am sure they have the help of some very talented Slytherins, who have extensive knowledge of how to stay undetected," Narcissa said.

"But," Harry protested, still worried, "a couple of students, even Slytherins, couldn't stay undetected when faced with such an experienced wizard as Dumbledore."

"Whoever said the Slytherins were students?" She smiled a predatory smile and left the room.

Harry looked after her in astonishment while Lucius chuckled softly.

"Know one thing, son: never, ever underestimate the scorn of a woman. Some of the greatest men in history have fallen because they underestimated the strength of a woman," Lucius said.

"Yeah," Harry said, shivering slightly as he imagined Narcissa and Hermione combining forces.

"And, she was born a Black, so I wouldn't worry if I were you," Lucius added.

A sly smile appeared on Harry's face and soon he was laughing so hard the tears were streaming down his face.

"I almost feel sorry for Dumbledore," Harry said, when he'd calmed down a little.

Lucius raised one eyebrow in question.

"I did say almost," Harry repeated.

It was Lucius' turn to laugh.

A/N: Thanks to my new beta Aaron!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: this story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Chapter 6: Things Fall Into Place

"No, no, yous must be focusing, Master Harry," Mystia said, pulling on her ears in desperation.

Harry could understand her frustration as well. She might have the permission to teach Harry how to pop consciously, but that didn't mean that it was easy to learn. He'd been following Mystia's instructions to the letter, yet he still wasn't able to move himself. The only time he managed to do so was in his sleep, when his emotions were high because of a nightmare. He wasn't even surprised any more when he woke up from a nightmare in Draco's bed, or on one memorable occasion in between Lucius and Narcissa. Merlin, but that had been embarrassing. Right now however, Harry would give anything to be embarrassed by popping somewhere unexpected, if only because that meant he'd popped!

"Focus on where yous wants to go, Master Harry," Mystia said, having calmed down a bit. "Then yous sees yourself there, and then you push."

Harry closed his eyes, imagined his room, and then imagined himself standing by the window. He waited until the picture was as clear as he could make it in his mind then pushed himself towards that location. He opened his eyes and groaned in dismay at seeing the bookshelves against the wall. He was still in the library. He sighed in disappointment and sat down before Mystia, who looked about as miserable as he felt.

"I'm never going to be able to do this," he said, as much to himself as to Mystia.

"But Master Harry must do this, Master Malfoy said so," Mystia wailed, tears in her large eyes.

"I know," Harry said. "But I'm doing exactly as you say; I picture myself in my room and push, but nothing happens."

Mystia's wailing stopped abruptly, and she began jumping up and down. Harry looked at her, wondering if he'd pushed her too far.

"Yous be doing it wrongs, Master Harry," Mystia said.

"But I did just as you said," Harry exclaimed.

"Wes not seeing place, Master Harry, we be seeing people," Mystia said.

Harry's eyes grew wide. Of course, people, that's why he always popped to Draco or Lucius or Narcissa's location. He always popped to people. Quickly he stood up and closed his eyes. He pictured Lucius, then pictured himself standing next to Lucius, and pushed. When he opened his eyes, he was in Lucius' office! The man hadn't noticed his arrival yet. Harry let out a whoop of joy that had Lucius looking up.

"I did it, I just popped here," Harry shouted, then hugged the man.

Lucius laughed and hugged him back.

"Well done Harry," Lucius said.

"I just figured out that you just have to pop to people, instead of places," Harry said.

"Well, that's good to know, we'll have to take that into account when we finally go after Voldemort," Lucius said. "However, keep practicing. We're not there yet."

"I know," Harry said, trying to be serious, but unable to stop grinning. "But this is good, right?"

"Yes, and I think this calls for a celebration," Lucius answered.

Harry grinned and ran out of Lucius' office to find Draco and Narcissa. Finally things were going his way, and he couldn't wait to celebrate it with his family.

Later that evening, Harry got out his lineage book. Since Christmas, he'd looked at it often. There was a chapter about his father that he'd read with great interest and a chapter on his grandfather James that had almost brought him to tears. Often he'd wished that his grandfather hadn't died, because he'd have been spared a lot of misery that way. But what he liked most about his Christmas present was looking at the Potter family tree; seeing the names of all those Potters, going back to nearly the year 1400, made him feel connected to the Wizarding World. He gently stroked the leather cover of the book, letting his fingers trail the golden embossed Potter crest. He opened the book to the first page and performed the spell that took a drop of his blood for the page.

"Show me my line," Harry said.

The by now familiar tree began to form on the page, beginning with his own name. He traced the Potter men with his eyes until Herbertus Potter, born 1407, deceased 1501. However, unlike other times, the tree drew itself further back in time. Names he'd never seen before showed themselves. Finally, it seemed the tree would go no further back. The last name drawn, what Draco had called the line founder, was Arthur Pendragon. Harry stared at the tree in surprise. Why was it showing this now? For a moment, Harry contemplated waking Draco to ask, but decided that it might as well wait until breakfast. With a sigh, he closed the lineage book and went to sleep.

The next morning, Harry asked about the extended tree he'd seen the night before.

"What did you ask the book to show you?" Lucius asked.

Harry frowned, what did Lucius mean with that?

"What I always ask, to show me my line," he answered.

"No you don't," Draco said. "You always ask for the Potter line."

"There's a difference?" Harry asked confused.

"When you ask for the Potter line, the book will show you the family tree up until the oldest male relative named Potter. When you ask for your line, it will show you the oldest magical male relative, whether his name was Potter or not," Lucius said.

Well, that explained a lot, Harry thought.

"So, who's your line founder?" Draco asked.

"Some guy named Arthur Pendragon," Harry said with a shrug.

The glass Narcissa had been holding in her hand shattered as it fell. Lucius almost choked on the bite of toast he had taken just before Harry spoke and Draco's mouth fell open.

"What?" Harry asked, apprehensive about their reactions.

"Oh, Merlin, that explains so much," Lucius choked out.

And apparently, it did. It appeared that his popping ability, his shielding ability, everything, came from Arthur Pendragon, who just happened to be Merlin's protégé. With the information the goblin's had given Harry, namely that he had just some kind of personal shield, and the knowledge that he was a descendant of Arthur Pendragon, they finally had the break they needed in figuring out how to deal with Voldemort. But, even with this break, it still took weeks of research and weeks of planning to come up with what Draco had dubbed "the perfect plan".

With the summer holidays only three days old, the plan was set to go into motion in a little over twenty-four hours. Severus Snape was all set up to be the focal point of Harry's popping ability, as he was currently at Voldemort's headquarters. Ron and Hermione were in guest rooms down the hall, supposedly to visit for a couple of days, but actually so Harry could take them, together with the Malfoys to Voldemort's headquarters. They would take out the Death Eaters there and provide backup while Harry went after Voldemort. Theoretically, Harry had a personal shield that could withstand the Killing Curse. The plan was to take out Voldemort with a predecessor of the Killing Curse, which wasn't illegal because its existence was almost completely forgotten. Lucius wasn't taking any chances on Harry being tried for using an Unforgivable after he'd dealt with Voldemort. Harry was inclined to agree on that point. He wasn't, however, satisfied with the rest of the plan, which was why he was dressed and ready to go now, while everyone else was still asleep. Harry pulled his Invisibility Cloak around him and was just about to pop to Snape's side, in hopes that the man would be alone in his bedroom, when Ron and Hermione quietly snuck into his room.

"Bollocks, we missed him," Ron said.

"Oh no," Hermione said, clearly distraught. "I told you we should've come here earlier. Now he'll be all alone."

"At least he'll have Snape," Ron said in what was obviously supposed to be a comforting tone of voice, but he failed to hide his own distress.

For a moment, Harry contemplated just popping away, leaving them behind, but the grim look on Ron's face and the shimmer of tears in Hermione's eyes made him slide his Cloak off.

"Never thought I'd hear you say that Ron," he said.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed in shock.

"We all grow up sometime," Ron said grinning, clearly relieved Harry was still there.

"We're going with you," Hermione said decisively.

"Of course you are," Harry said.

When he thought about it, it was only logical. The three of them had been through five years of adventures together, and they would make it through this last one together. Hermione, however, seemed not to have heard his acceptance, since she launched into a soft but determined spiel about why they should come with Harry. Ron and Harry shared an amused glance as Harry's answer suddenly seemed to register with Hermione. She stopped her diatribe with a surprised 'oh'. The three friends shared a laugh, and then sobered as Harry pulled out his wand.

"Let's end this tonight," Harry said.

The other two nodded and pulled out their own wands. Harry covered all three of them with the Invisibility Cloak. It was a tight fit, but in the end they managed. Harry took a deep breath, closed his eyes and focused on Snape. When he opened his eyes, all three of them were standing in a bedroom and Snape, who was in a nightshirt, was facing in their general direction, his wand at the ready. Quickly, Harry dropped the Invisibility Cloak and Snape relaxed slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Snape snapped.

"We're doing it now, instead of later today," Harry told him.

"What about the Malfoys?" Snape asked suspiciously.

"They're not coming," Harry said.

Before Snape could protest this or question him, Harry stepped away from his two friends and slipped the Cloak back on.

"I'll see the three of you later," Harry said and slipped out the door.

Treading softly but swiftly through the empty hallways, Harry tried to push his nerves aside by focusing on where to go next. He'd spent weeks studying the plans Snape had drawn of the headquarters, so he easily found his way to Voldemort's office. According to Snape, the man was there most of the time. Harry took one deep breath and pushed the door open. His scar, which had been tingling ever since he'd arrived here, gave a sharp stab of pain.

"Show yourself, Harry Potter," Voldemort said.

Harry felt a rush of relief as he saw Voldemort standing there behind his desk, wand out, facing towards the door. One way or another, this would end tonight. Harry closed his eyes, and pulled his personal shield forward, then dropped the Cloak.

"This ends tonight," he said.

"Yes, it does," Voldemort replied and shot out a Killing Curse.

Harry's heart leaped into his throat as the green light hit his shield. For a moment, all Harry could see was green, and then he felt a searing pain as the world went black.

When he opened his eyes again, he was looking at a ceiling that looked vaguely familiar. Narcissa's face floated into his field of vision. She was talking, but all Harry could hear was some garbled sounds. He was tired, so tired, so he let the darkness take over again.

When he awoke again, he found Draco sitting next to his own bed in Malfoy Manor.

"Hey, you're awake, how are you feeling?" Draco asked.

"Tired," Harry answered, his voice raspy. "What happened?"

Draco frowned.

"You went off alone, killed Voldemort and apparently survived the Killing Curse again," was his response.

Harry closed his eyes. Dead, Voldemort was dead, and he was finally free. He probably would've let the darkness carry him away again if Draco's pained voice hadn't reached him.

"Why didn't you wait for us? Didn't you trust us; trust me, to watch your back?"

With great effort, Harry pried his eyes open again and blindly reached for Draco with his hand. It was grasped in Draco's hand.

"No, couldn't take you with me. Couldn't risk it. Couldn't risk losing my family," Harry said.

He saw understanding and love on Draco's face, just before he drifted off again.

In the end, it took Harry three weeks to recover completely. A lot had happened in that time. Not only was Voldemort dead, but both he, Ron, Hermione and Severus Snape had received the Order of Merlin, First Class. Albus Dumbledore had died, going gently in his sleep. Harry still wasn't sure about how he felt about that, but he was glad the old man had died with the knowledge that Voldemort was defeated. As for Harry himself, he still wasn't completely sure what he was going to do with his life, just that he was going back to Hogwarts for his last year. Voldemort was dead, he had friends and a family, and life was good. That was enough for now.

A/N: Thanks to my beta Danii and Anita!


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